Hats off once more to the members of the Middleburg Library Advisory Board for what can only be described as a triumph of good taste, good will, and iron determination to make a good idea not only work, but work well.

The Middleburg branch of the Loudoun County Public Library is the system's smallest. Originally designed to be twice its current size, the building is almost literally bursting at the seams, serving not only as a traditional public library, but as a library in the 21st century sense of the word: library, social center, teaching resource, temporary office, and ongoing steward of an ever-expanding, ever-more accessible, ever more complex intellectual trust.

Given the demands of the more heavily populated eastern parts of the County and what appeared to be a never-ending, ongoing, recession-driven budget crunch, it had long been clear that the only way to expand the library was to raise the funds to do so privately.

A special subcommittee of the Advisory Board, including Denis Cotter, Jeff Baldwin, Marc Leepson, and Mike Morency set out to do just that.

Patiently (and sometimes appropriately impatiently) working with and through the Town of Middleburg, the Middleburg Community Center, the County Library Board of Trustees, the County Library Professional Staff, the County financial, legal, and construction staff, and the Board of Supervisors (not to mention all the appropriate sub-committees and boards associated with the aforementioned) . . . the committee drafted, revised, and gained full approval of all the stakeholders involved for an extraordinary formal agreement that will allow the Advisory Board to raise the money, design, and build the long-sought addition to the Middleburg Library.

The project is far from complete. More money must be raised, permits and approvals granted, designers and contractors hired, and the work done on time, on target and on budget.

The entire community, and all those outside Middleburg served by the our little gem of library, should stand behind the Advisory Board, support its work, and contribute the funds needed to finish a job so far so well done.